Rahway City Council Shows Support For Marriage Equality

RAHWAY – In an official resolution adopted Monday night, the Rahway City Council unanimously joined the Union County Board of Freeholders and other lawmakers throughout New Jersey calling upon state representatives to override Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s veto and pass the Marriage Equality Bill.

Councilman Bob Bresenhan, Jr., lead sponsor of the resolution (AR-187-13), asserted, “we call upon the other towns in Union County to join with the City of Rahway and the Union County Freeholders and pass similar resolutions in supporting the override.”

The Rahway resolution urges the General Assembly and State Senate to override the veto of the Marriage Equality Bill, which passed with bipartisan support in February 2012. Under the bill, marriage is defined as “the legally recognized union of two consenting persons in a committed relationship.”

In early summer 2013 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional. That law defined a marriage as only between a man and a woman. The New Jersey bill is consistent with the Supreme Court ruling, according to Bresenhan.

About a dozen other states and the District of Columbia have marriage equality laws. When the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, all married couples in these states gained equal access to federal benefits.

The City of Rahway resolution states, “The City of Rahway Council urges the New Jersey General Assembly and the State Senate to vote to over-ride Governor Chris Christie’s veto of the Marriage Equality Bill, and afford the same rights and privileges to same-sex couples that are given to other marriage couples under the law.”